The External Training station focuses on extending your organisation’s compliance standards to the external parties who help deliver your business outcomes - vendors, suppliers, partners, and other third parties. These entities often operate outside your direct control, yet their actions can expose your business to significant legal and reputational risk.

This station recognises that compliance is not just an internal affair. Legal teams must ensure that external stakeholders understand and adhere to the organisation’s legal obligations, ethical standards, and operational expectations. Whether it’s anti-bribery, data protection, trade compliance, or ESG - external training is the mechanism that turns shared risk into shared accountability.

Training can take many forms: onboarding modules, policy briefings, certification programs, or live workshops. The goal is to make compliance expectations clear, practical, and enforceable. When third parties are educated, they are empowered to act in alignment with your standards - reducing the likelihood of breaches and improving collaboration.

Ultimately, this station helps legal teams build a compliance ecosystem that is resilient, consistent, and scalable - even across complex supply chains and global partnerships.

The scope of the External Training station includes:

◼️Designing compliance training programs for third parties

◼️Identifying high-risk external stakeholders for prioritised training

◼️Delivering training on key legal and regulatory topics

◼️Tracking participation, completion, and certification status

◼️Integrating training into onboarding and contract processes

◼️Providing refresher modules and updates based on regulatory changes

◼️Documenting training outcomes for audit and assurance purposes

◼️Aligning external training with internal compliance frameworks

In GLS legal ops speak – the External Training is considered a “Foundational” resource within the process ecosystem of an in-house legal team.

The Foundational Resource is a CRE that is responsible for determining the overall performance capabilities of a “critical” legal function. If it is not optimised, the function can never be optimised. 

The best practice features of the GLP are as follows:

◼️A structured external compliance training curriculum

◼️Risk-based segmentation of third-party audiences

◼️Multi-format delivery (e-learning, webinars, workshops)

◼️Certification and attestation mechanisms

◼️Integration with vendor onboarding and contract workflows

◼️Automated reminders and refresher training schedules

◼️Centralised tracking and reporting dashboards

◼️Alignment with internal compliance and legal policies

The External Training station delivers the following value to the Business:

◼️Reduces external breach risk and associated penalties

◼️Enhances trust and collaboration with partners and vendors

◼️Demonstrates proactive compliance to regulators and investors

◼️Supports ESG and sustainability goals through ethical alignment

◼️Improves operational consistency across supply chains

◼️Saves time and cost by preventing avoidable legal issues

For the legal team, this station provides:

◼️A scalable mechanism to extend compliance coverage

◼️Improved defensibility in case of third-party breaches

◼️Greater visibility into external compliance risk exposure

◼️Stronger alignment between legal and procurement functions

◼️A proactive tool for managing reputational risk

◼️Enhanced credibility in regulatory and audit engagements

The External Training station is essential for:

◼️Legal Department Leadership

◼️Compliance Officers

◼️Procurement Teams

◼️Vendor Management Functions

◼️Risk and Audit Committees

A legal team operating without an External Training station will face a wide range of inefficiencies including:

◼️Increased risk of third-party compliance breaches

◼️Reactive crisis management instead of proactive prevention

◼️Poor visibility into external compliance awareness levels

◼️Difficulty demonstrating governance to regulators

◼️Fragmented or inconsistent training practices

◼️Reduced ability to scale partnerships safely

This station benefits from technology platforms that support e-learning, certification tracking, and automated training workflows. Integration with vendor management systems and contract lifecycle platforms ensures that training is embedded into the broader third-party governance process. Analytics tools can help identify training gaps and measure effectiveness.